American Militia

here is my final AWI unit for a while, mainly because i have not bought anymore at the minute. i intend to return to the AWI in the future to add more militia units, some cavalry etc. but for now due to financial constraints i will be trying desperatly not to buy any new figures instead working through my lead backlog
anyway, this unit has been painted to represent a Pennsylvania militia unit with some men outfitted in nice new uniforms whilst others are having to make do with their own clothes. obviously the officers are well dressed. i did toy with the idea of one officer being dressed in a continental blue uniform but decided agaiinst it in the end
next up on the work table are 1866 austrians i have been looking forward to these for ages and cant wait to finally get them started. some awi generals (not a unit so dont count) some more WotR bows and billmen, oliver cromwell and king charles and some WW2 15mm british bren gun carriers

Wars of the Roses Bowmen & Bills (2)

as usual a bit slow on the painting front this post, but have manegd to complete another small set of perry plastic bowmen and billmen.
i have painted most in the livery of Edward IV (York) as this will allow me to use them in most of the major battles of the middle portion of the wars
finally i have undercoated and based my 1866 austrians and have nearly finished my final (for now) unit of awi militia. so as long as work doesnt get in the way too much should have these up quite soon

Wars of the Roses Bowmen (1)

at last here are the first of my Perry Plastic Wars of the Roses figures. I have been fascinated by the wars that engulfed the British Isles in the mid and late 15th Century.
In brief the wars focused on the maschinations of the powerful faction under Richard of York (The Yorkists)and the royal favourites of Queen Margaret such as the Montagu family, Beauforts and the Northern Barons the Percys (The Lancastrians). The king Henry VI was a weak and almost certainly mentally unstable man who was used as a pawn by all the factions, including his wife, to justify their claims to the throne. The war raged on and off for 30 years from 1453 to 1487 before finally ending with the defeat of Richard III (York) by Henry Tudor who then became King Henry VII.
The perry models are , as usual, fantasticly detailed for plastics, how they manage to get so much detail on them is unbelievable. they are a dream to paint too being very simple but also with great texture to pick out the mail and hauberks etc. The models come in a variety of standing and advancing poses which have a variety of head and arm choices to make them either billmen or bowmen. Also included are 4 models in full harness to be used as command figures or men at arms. a standard bearer arm and herald are also included to complete the command models.I have based the models individually as i think it is likely that for some time these are going to be a side interest only for me, although the continued release of new perry metals and the plastic crossbowmen/pikemen box for european armies/mercenaries might tempt me

Next up are my first 1866 Helion Hungarian infantry. i love these models and have been dying to paint them for ages but other things have got in the way. i hope to have a unit of 20 painted fairly soon and then i can justify getting some more especially as helion now have free shipping and unit deals all of which make them even more attractive. Also to be completed will be some more WotR Billmen, my last militia unit for the AWI and some ECW odds and sods. Finally i am dusting off my Flames of War in time for the release of the Early war/Blitzkreig supplement which is out in August